Unusual Leeks
An unusual number of our leeks have started to bolt, presumably because of the strange growing season, and so Mg has decided to lift the large ones early and freeze them. What is particularly unusual is that a few of the bolted ones have started to produce bulbils at the base.
The first picture shows a double leek, one with bulbils and a few 'bits' that have grown from bulbils. The second picture is a close up of the bulbils. I will pot up the bulbils and see if they produce anything but I have never seen this before. Has anyone else?

When plants are pollinated only the pollen from the male flower you require to make the hybrid must be used. Often we have saved seeds from plants to get the same results the next year only to get plants of different height and size in flower. With hybrids, don't save seeds.

With research to produce say a marrow which will produce marrows of the same size, flavour etc. the female flower is pollinated by a male flower then covered with muslin to stop any other pollen getting through, if you are pollinating onions and garlic in the same place a mistake can be made.

selfed means pollen from the same plant on to its own stigma. no other plants involved. still would get variation as it depends on which chromosomes are in the pollen mix. but flowers are in the second year not in the first year.

Both Leeks and Elephant Garlic are varieties of the same species, Allium ampeloprasum. I'm not too surprised if a Leek would try to bulb up under the right weather conditions, especially if it had some genes added from Elephant Garlic, say for disease or pest resistance. Garlic smell may not appear, since it is weak in Elephant Garlic, anyway. True Garlic is a different species from Leeks, and is unlikely to cross with them.

The taste is probably one of the first things they bred for, but they probably weren't thinking about the consequences of weird weather conditions! Taste and nutrition are what most of us grow veggies for, anyway, and we don't care if they are homely children. : )